Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96 of 20 June 1996 concerning humanitarian aid1 , and in particular Article 2, Article 4 and Article 15(2) and (3) thereof,

Having regard to Council Decision 2013/755/EU of 25 November 2013 on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Union ('Overseas Association Decision')2 , and in particular Article 79 thereof,

This Annual Report highlights the impact of the Joint UNDP-DPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention. In 2017, the Joint Programme provided support to more than 60 countries, including through the deployment of Peace and Development Advisors. Peace and Development Advisors are at the forefront of the Programme’s efforts, they support the UN system to effectively adapt and respond to complex political situations and identify areas for preventive action.

On Monday 16 October 2017 the Council adopted the EU Annual Report on Human Rights And Democracy in the World in 2016.

2016 was a challenging year for human rights and democracy, with a shrinking space for civil society and complex humanitarian and political crises emerging. In this context, the European Union showed leadership and remained strongly committed to promote and protect human rights and democracy across the world.

The month saw fighting escalate again in Syria and Afghanistan, and erupt in Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenian-backed separatists and Azerbaijani forces. In Bangladesh, election violence and killings by extremist groups showed how new heights of government-opposition rivalry and state repression have benefitted violent political party wings and extremist groups alike. Political tensions intensified in Iraq and Macedonia, and security forces severely supressed opposition protests in the Republic of Congo and Gambia.

Iraq: 1.2 million people have been displaced by the ISIL June offensive and the Anbar crisis. Humanitarian access to militant-held areas remains a challenge. The security situation in Anbar, Ninevah, Salah al Din and Diyala is volatile and unpredictable. Host communities are facing difficulties assisting new IDPs and over 226,000 Syrian refugees.

Pakistan: The military offensive against the Taliban in North Waziristan has reportedly killed up to 30 Taliban and displaced at least 300,000 people to neighbouring provinces as well as Afghanistan.

The Working Group expresses its strong objection to the decision of the United Nations Secretariat not to grant a waiver to the 10,700 word limit to the present report, as has been the case for almost every year since such a limit was imposed by the General Assembly in 1993.

GENEVA, 7 March 2011 - UNICEF released
the Humanitarian Action for Children Report (HAC) 2011 today, requesting
$1.4 billion in its annual appeal to donors to assist children and women
caught in the throes of crises.

Rome, 6 October 2010 - Twenty-two countries
are facing enormous challenges like repeated food crises and an extremely
high prevalence of hunger due to a combination of natural disasters, conflict
and weak institutions.

General Assembly
Sixty-fourth session
Item 72 (a) of the provisional agenda
Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and
disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including
special economic assistance: strengthening of the coordination

Geneva - The Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today announced that 2.3 million people
living with HIV have been reached with lifesaving antiretroviral (ARV)
treatment through AIDS programs it supports, a 31 per cent increase over
results reported a year ago.

Global Fund-supported tuberculosis programs
have so far put more than 5.4 million people on effective TB drugs treatment.
Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death among HIV-infected people; the
World Health Organization estimates that TB accounts for up to a …

For the millions of people affected by
natural disasters and conflict worldwide, 2008 was a year of enormous challenges.
More than 211 million people were affected by natural disasters, with more
than 238,000 killed and US$200 billion in damages, making 2008 one of the
most devastating years in terms of human and material losses.

Early indications point to a reduction
in global cereal output in 2009 from the previous year's record. Smaller
plantings and/or adverse weather look likely to bring grain production
down in most of the world's major producers.

In Low-Income Food-Deficit countries,
prospects for the early 2009 cereal crops point to a lower output. Good
crops are expected in North Africa.

- As the year draws to a close, FAO's
latest estimates confirm that a new record high level of global cereal
production was achieved in 2008, sufficient to cover the expected increase
in utilization in 2008/09 and also allow for a moderate replenishment of
world reserves.

- Most of the increase in production
this year has been among the developed countries, with that in the developing
countries rising just marginally.